The Incredible Hulk Review/Rambling
I went out to see The Incredible Hulk last night…it was so-so. I liked this movie about as much as the last…and I was pretty “meh” about that one as well. I can’t even say that one could spoil anything about the movie, since the plot is pretty straight forward: The military is after Bruce Banner, Hulk smash, the military makes their own monster, monster gets out of control, Hulk smash. Hints for sequels. The end.
Tony Stark’s appearance isn’t even as impressive as it should be, since they put his scene into recent commercials. The one thing that might be a spoiler (and I don’t think I’m ruining it for anyone, really) is that there is a lot of setup for both upcoming Captain America and The Avengers films. In fact, the vibe of this “Hulk” movie seemed to be, “Okay, let’s get this movie out of the way so we can move toward The Avengers.” Supposedly, there was a scene filmed with Captain America (or perhaps his alter ego, Steve Rogers) for The Incredible Hulk, but they’re saving it for the DVD release. I’m hoping that someone leaks that into the internet soon because I’m genuinely curious to see who they’ve cast for that role.
I also keep reading about the next movie to be produced as an Avengers precursor being Thor. I dunno… Thor hasn’t been a relevant character in 25 years, let’s face it. And since his story is based so heavily in the fantasy realm of Norse mythology, it would be incredibly difficult to fit him in with the rest of the established characters. I would skip Thor and either choose another character to dedicate an entire feature or invest that money into making a truly extraordinary Captain America film.
The thing is, I’d even go as far to say that they’re ready to make an Avengers movie now. What I would do is kick off an Avengers movie where we see the familiar faces of Iron Man and Hulk, give Captain America an explosive introduction in the opening scene, then casually introduce one or two other supporting characters (like Hawkeye, who is great in The Avengers, but also doesn’t deserve his own feature) during the course of the movie to complete the team. Not hard to do and could save a lot of money for the studio so they can afford to make it as awesome as it deserves to be.
I do have to commend Marvel for being ambitious enough to take on the challenge of putting together an Avengers movie. I had my share of reservations back when they were working on the first X-Men flick since it had a complicated ensemble cast, but I was surprisingly satisfied. That’s the one thing that’s rocketed them to success beyond DC Comics… DC Comics has been flirting with the idea of a Justice League movie for decades, but they have enough trouble producing decent solo films for their characters, though I mostly blame their parent company of Warner Bros. for botching up that process. Meanwhile, Marvel’s been able to knock out at least two films a year. Now they’re showing that they’re bold enough to step up to the plate on The Avengers. “A team movie? Yeah, let’s do this! Make it happen.”
Now that I think about it, if they wanted to make a team movie, they’re already totally set up for The New Fantastic Four. Many don’t remember (and those who do, please find a girlfriend), but there was a brief moment in Marvel history where the original Fantastic Four members had been incapacitated, so a “new” team was formed to replace them, consisting of Spider-man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and Hulk. All of those characters have had their own films recently; some with sequels by now. I’m just sayin’…
But tangents aside, back to The Incredible Hulk. The scenes of Hulk fighting were fun to watch. The funny thing is that while the character of Bruce Banner’s story is usually interesting, it’s not as entertaining as “Hulk Smash!” Ironically, if the movie were 90 minutes of beginning-to-end “Hulk Smash!”, I would have paid twice the ticket price and pre-ordered the DVD that day.
If you’re looking for fan service, this movie delivers. Stan Lee has his due cameo, with a line. There are quite a few nods to the 1970s TV show. Bill Bixby makes a subtle appearance. Lou Farrigno not only gets a cameo, but also a couple lines, as well as providing the voice of Hulk throughout the film. It took me a second to notice, but some of the soundtrack is clearly derived from some of the TV show’s background music.
This was a long review (of sorts), so here’s the bottom line: Wait for it to hit the dollar theaters. Maybe wait to rent it on DVD in case the rumor of the added Captain America scene holds any truth to it.
